Loss for detainee

A heartbroken Iranian detainee whose critically ill wife died in a Bali hospital before he could reach her said from the Woomera detention centre yesterday he feared for his young children.

Ibrahim, a detainee at Woomera since April last year, was told on Monday he could leave to visit his Javanese wife, who had burns to 60 per cent of her body. It is believed she was near the Sari Club when last Saturday's car bomb exploded.

But, while he waited to be taken to Bali, Ibrahim learnt she had died.

Immigration authorities yesterday were negotiating with the Indonesian Government for him to enter Bali to bury his wife and to see their two children. A spokeswoman would not speculate on whether Ibrahim would be expected to return to custody in Australia.

Ibrahim, 35, has been in Woomera for 18 months and is awaiting deportation. He was refused asylum and his case failed in an appeal to the Federal Court earlier this year.

His concern now was with his children, who were with his mother-in-law in a Javanese village.